The ECIP Process: How ETC Protocol Changes Work

The Ethereum Classic Improvement Proposal (ECIP) process is the formal mechanism through which protocol changes are proposed, discussed, and implemented on the ETC network.

## What Is an ECIP?

An ECIP is a design document providing information to the ETC community about a proposed change to the protocol. ECIPs follow a structured format that includes motivation, specification, rationale, and backwards compatibility analysis.

## ECIP Types

### Standards Track
Changes to the network protocol, including consensus changes, block or transaction format changes, and EVM opcode additions. These are the most significant ECIPs as they require all nodes to upgrade.

### Informational
Provides general guidelines or information. Does not propose protocol changes.

### Meta
Describes a process surrounding ETC (like the ECIP process itself).

## The ECIP Lifecycle

1. **Draft**: Author writes the proposal and submits it to the ECIP repository
2. **Review**: Community discusses the proposal on GitHub, Discord, and community calls
3. **Last Call**: Final review period before acceptance
4. **Accepted**: The proposal is technically sound and has community support
5. **Final**: Implemented and activated on the network
6. **Withdrawn/Rejected**: Not moving forward

## Key ECIPs in ETC History

| ECIP | Title | Status |
|------|-------|--------|
| ECIP-1017 | Monetary Policy and Final Modification to the Ethereum Classic Emission Schedule | Final |
| ECIP-1054 | Atlantis EVM and Protocol Upgrades | Final |
| ECIP-1056 | Agharta EVM and Protocol Upgrades | Final |
| ECIP-1061 | Blake2b, Derivation Path, and ECIP-1061 | Final |
| ECIP-1078 | Phoenix EVM and Protocol Upgrades | Final |
| ECIP-1099 | Calibrate Epoch Duration (Thanos/Etchash) | Final |
| ECIP-1100 | MESS (Modified Exponential Subjective Scoring) | Deprecated |
| ECIP-1103 | Magneto EVM and Protocol Upgrades | Final |
| ECIP-1104 | Mystique EVM and Protocol Upgrades | Final |
| ECIP-1109 | Spiral EVM and Protocol Upgrades | Final |

## Relationship to EIPs

ECIPs often reference Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) when adopting upstream EVM changes. ETC evaluates each EIP independently — some are adopted (execution-layer improvements), while others are rejected (PoS-specific changes, EIP-1559 fee burning).

## How to Participate

The ECIP process is open to anyone. Proposals are submitted as pull requests to the ECIP repository. Discussion happens publicly on GitHub and in community channels. There is no permissioned committee — acceptance is based on technical merit and rough consensus.